For National Volunteer Week 2022, the Biophysical Society is highlighting some of our many dedicated volunteers.
Is this your first volunteer position for BPS? If not, what other positions have you held?
Serving on the BPS Membership Committee from 2018 to 2021 has been my first volunteer position for BPS. I really enjoyed this volunteering experience, which led me to also volunteer to be a guest blogger for the Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in 2019. Recently, I have been reappointed to the BPS Membership Committee for a second term from 2021 to 2024. I am very happy and honored to volunteer for BPS!
Why do you volunteer?
The 2017 Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in New Orleans was the first big scientific conference that I had attended. At this meeting, I had the chance to present my research poster, listen to amazing scientific talks and career panels, and network with professionals in the biophysics field. Soon after this meeting, one day just like all the BPS members, I received an email from BPS stating that BPS was looking for volunteers to serve on BPS committees such as Membership Committee, Education Committee, Inclusion and Diversity Committee, and many other committees. I was very excited about this opportunity to play an active role in contributing to BPS, so I volunteered and was selected for my appointment on the BPS Membership Committee. I volunteer for BPS because I am very impressed with the scientific, networking, and career opportunities that BPS offers to its members and I wanted to be a part of BPS in creating this wonderful platform of opportunities for its members and to biophysicists around the world.
Can you tell us about something your committee is working on?
BPS Membership Committee works on increasing the number of BPS members by striving to enable the scientists and students who have limited funding sources to also have the opportunity of being BPS members. To achieve this, our committee reviews and evaluates the Undergraduate Travel Awards and Bridging Travel Awards. Undergraduate Travel Awards grant travel awards to undergraduates, while Bridging Travel Awards grant travel awards for professors with limited funding to attend to the BPS Annual Meeting, where they can present their research and collaborate and network with other BPS members. Our committee also reviews and evaluates networking event applications in which BPS funds the networking events of scientists with limited funding from all over the world. These networking events help to build a stronger biophysics community by establishing a platform for education, diversity, and networking. In 2020, we also worked on organizing and structuring the mentoring program of BPS for early career members, which will offer scientific and career guidance to early career scientists from the experts in their particular field. We also do some fun little assignments sometimes such as selecting the best T-shirt design for Biophysics Week!
What has been a highlight from your volunteer experience?
The highlight of my volunteer experience for BPS is that I get to review and evaluate travel award and networking event applications, which creates a platform to build stronger biophysics communities all around the world. Travel awards are presenting an opportunity for a trainee or an expert with limited funding to continue promoting their research and establishing new collaborations, while the networking events emphasize organizing trainee and diversity-focused events that highlight different concepts from research presentations to discussing ways to promote biophysics funding. I believe these efforts are contributing to the bright future of biophysics and I am very happy to be a small part of it.
Do you have advice for others who might be thinking about volunteering?
I would say: “Go for it!” Volunteering for BPS will give you a solid opportunity to contribute to the growth of the Biophysical Society all over the world. During your volunteering experience, you will be working with the wonderful, experienced BPS members from whom you will learn a lot about how to plan and organize BPS events and you will realize that, even though you might be an early career member, your ideas and contributions will be highly appreciated. I must say volunteering for BPS will also help your own career and your professional growth. For example, when I was interviewing for my postdoc, one of the first questions I was asked was “How did you become involved in so many BPS events?” Volunteering for BPS makes you stand out and shows that you can take initiative and make use of the opportunities and resources that are presented to you, that you can work as part of a team and use your time effectively, which will help you in your job applications. Volunteering for BPS led me to be more active and do things such as blog writing, which I was always interested in but never did it. For example, as I volunteered for BPS, I realized that I really enjoy talking to people and organizing events, which has led me to interview a STEM career consultant, Alaina Levine, who I had also met at the BPS Annual Meeting, and our interview on “Learn how to network to boost your career” was published in BPS Bulletin. Now, I am also actively participating in organizing a career symposium. Volunteering for BPS made me discover that I like organizing events and writing blogs and helped my professional development. So, I would encourage you to volunteer for BPS. It will not take much of your time at all, but it will help you to contribute to the biophysics community around the world while it also helps your professional and career development as well.
When not volunteering for BPS, what do you work on?
I am a second-year postdoc at NIH. I work on understanding the catalytic mechanism of the proteins in the ribosome biogenesis pathway using biochemical, molecular biology, and cryo-EM techniques. I really enjoy my research projects. Volunteering for BPS has sparked the volunteer spirit in me, which led me to actively participate in several NIH trainee groups where we organize networking events and career symposia and discuss science policy, which I love being a part of!